Personal Statement
Tennis has been my world for 13 years. It has kept me in motion from my earliest travels with our small team supervised by a coach to my travel today as a major player with my entourage. My sport has been good to me. I have had an opportunity to play in tournaments all over the world and compete with some of the best players from more countries that I can remember.
Naturally, I have my eyes focused on a professional tennis career that would allow me to do exactly what I love. However, I also dream of my college years where I can play tennis as part of a team again and also experience the joy and beauty of college life and the great transformation that it will bring to me.
Once it became evident that my tennis talent was going to be a driving force in my life, the rest of my life began to revolve around tennis. It was at the center of my world with my education, my social life, and often the smallest detail of my daily routine planned around it. From an early age, I became comfortable being out on the court competing for one to one in the presence of spectators. As the level of competition grew, the crowds grew as well. Eventually, the crowds became so large that I felt like a gladiatrix with the court much like an arena. However, my love and passion for sports have also taught me to be comfortable with this as well.
Two other incredible gifts have come with my participation in tennis: travel and language. At the same time, my tennis playing has meant a great deal of travel for me. Being constantly on the move in so many different countries and across so many different cultures has given me the opportunity to pick up quite a few phrases in many languages. I am already fluent in English, Greek, and Serbo-Croatian, I can manage basics in French and Spanish, but I would like to prosper much more.
My goal is to have a professional tennis career. Everything in my profile indicates that as my life path. However, these experiences have also made me want also to be that young woman that attends college. Tennis has given me so many beautiful things, but it has also taken a lot from me. I simply cannot give up the life changing the experience of college, and the very discipline that I have learned from tennis has also settled deep within me so as to drive my heart toward a college education.
PT 2
I was at the beach in Cyprus when I saw a man behind a jet ski rising out of the water using a metal pipe. I was seeing flyboarding for the first time. I had never seen anything like it, and I had to try. I approached the man running this operation and asked about trying this. He explained the cost, how it worked, and also seemed a bit skeptical of my abilities as a first timer. By the time my turn was over, the man was asking me to train full time for a competition in Dubai in 2016. To this day on his Facebook page, he has my photos and refers to me as." "Natural talent....one of the best first time flyers I ever had...."
That is just me. My talent is for sports. Although my tennis playing is good enough for me to consider a professional career, all sports come easily to me. From the time I was three, I was already in swimming and tennis classes. I began school at the age of 4. It was during the school Physical Education classes that I first discovered my unique gift. I had the ability to watch any sport for just a few minutes and gain an immediate understanding of how to play, and how to play well.
I quickly understand the rules - what is permitted or not permitted. I watch the players and after a few minutes I am ready to go in and play. Although I understand the idea that I can quickly catch onto the rules, my ability to go in and master the sport is something that remains a mystery to me.
Naturally having such an innate ability gives me a profound sense of confidence. However, I am also aware that this is a natural ability. It is not something that I have earned or worked hard to obtain. In fact, sometimes it is almost embarrassing, and I frequently "play stupid" and give the appearance of easing into my mastery of a sport. I try to be conscious of others, so I do not seem to come on terribly strong.
However, I also have some very intense moments when I consider the meaning of this incredible gift. It appears that I have been given far too much regarding talent. I also carry this as a burden in the sense that I must develop and use this talent. I cannot waste it. Every single day of my life, I am aware of my gift, and I am so grateful for my gift. I am no stranger to hard work, discipline, and commitment, but I know that I am also no stranger to luck, either.
